Seedings assessment
Area softball coaches discuss WPIAL softball pairings
There was the usual mixed bag of responses from area coaches after the WPIAL released its playoff softball pairings on Thursday.
Ten local teams found out where they were seeded and placed in each bracket with Class A again standing out with the highest seeds and most participants.
There were four local teams, all from Section 2, and three were seeded in the top five. Carmichaels, which has played in two WPIAL finals and one PIAA championship game in the last three years, is the second seed, followed by West Greene at No. 3 and Jefferson-Morgan at No. 5. Beth-Center, also out of Section 2, is the 11th seed.
There are two area teams in both Class 4A 鈥� No. 6 Laurel Highlands and No. 12 Uniontown 鈥� and Class 2A 鈥� No. 9 Frazier and No. 13 Brownsville. Connellsville is the 14th seed in Class 5A and Mount Pleasant is the third seed in Class 3A.
Connellsville鈥檚 John Burd and Brownsville鈥檚 Jane Bock had issues with where they were slotted. Both have 5 p.m. first-round games as Norwin. Connellsville goes up against No. 3 Penn-Trafford on Tuesday and Brownsville plays No. 4 South Allegheny on Thursday.
鈥淲e felt we should be higher but we also know we don鈥檛 get much respect, so we鈥檙e not really surprised,鈥� Connellsville coach John Burd said. 鈥淚 realize they shift teams around a little bit to keep them away from playing someone from their own section too early, but here we are behind Latrobe again, which is hard to figure out.
鈥淲e beat them at their place last year and had a better record and we were seeded below them. This year, same thing, better record and we 10-runned them at our place but they鈥檙e ahead of us again.鈥�
Burd is familiar with the Lady Warriors.
鈥淲e scrimmaged Penn-Trafford at the beginning of the year so we kind of know what they鈥檙e about. No matter who the opponent is, we鈥檙e going to have to play well. We鈥檙e especially going to have to hit and play good defense. We only have two pitchers that are both freshmen so this will help them get some experience in understanding what playoffs are about.鈥�
Brownsville finished in a tie for second place with Frazier in Section 4, although the Lady Commodores beat the Lady Falcons twice during the regular season. Still, Brownsville coach Jane Bock felt her team was slighted by being seeded above only three teams in the field of 16 despite having ace pitcher Ava Clark.
鈥淲e expected to have a little higher seeding, but we were not surprised of the placement,鈥� said Bock, who remains confident her team can advance. 鈥淥ur goal this year was to not only make the playoffs, but to win a game in the playoffs. We believe that we have a chance to accomplish this goal with our matchup against South Allegheny.
鈥淥ur section is one of the toughest, top to bottom, and we have faced some quality teams. We have also tried to get prepared by playing other playoff teams after section play. Our hopes are very positive going into the first round. We believe that we can compete and earn the respect that we deserve.鈥�
Frazier coach Don Hartman had no issue with being a No. 9 seed in what he considered a loaded bracket.
鈥淚 feel that we are seeded exactly where we should be,鈥� Hartman said. 鈥淲e have been fortunate to complete our 20 games and play some great higher classification teams along the way. It wasn鈥檛 about wins or losses for us this year but gaining experience to hopefully compete in our highly competitive AA bracket.
鈥淭he final eight this season will be one of the best I have seen in my 36 years of coaching.鈥�
Laurel Highlands and Uniontown fans can congregate at the same place when the Class 4A playoffs open as the two will be part of a Monday doubleheader at Norwin with the Mustangs taking on No. 11 Freeport at 2 p.m. and the Lady Raiders playing No. 5 Indiana at 4 p.m.
Uniontown fell to Indiana in a close first-round game last year, 3-2, but coach Jason White welcomed a second crack at the Lady Indians.
鈥淓xcited for a rematch from last year鈥檚 first round,鈥� said White, who had no complaints about Uniontown鈥檚 seeding.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 played well enough down the stretch to have an opinion on who we would have liked to play,鈥� White said. 鈥淲e get what we get. We are thankful our solid start was enough to squeak in.鈥�
The Lady Raiders won their first three games but have gone 7-7 since then.
鈥淲e have corrected the course in our last couple games,鈥� White said. 鈥淚 am super excited to watch us get back to who we are and we鈥檙e ready to embrace an underdog mentality.鈥�
Uniontown鈥檚 playoff berth marked the first time in program history the team has made four consecutive trips to the postseason, but White wants his team to take the next step and advance.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great accomplishment, but it鈥檚 time for this group to level up,鈥� he said.
While the Lady Raiders have made more recent trips to the playoffs, the Mustangs haven鈥檛 been in the dance for awhile.
鈥淥ur players are really excited to get LH back to the playoffs. It鈥檚 been 13 years, and 27 years since their last playoff win,鈥� Laurel Highlands coach Pat Livingston said. 鈥淲e really wanted this for our seniors this year, Harlie Dirda and Kayla Howell, because they worked their butts off for four years to get here.鈥�
Livingston was happy with a No. 6 seed.
鈥淭he seedings are really close to what we were thinking,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 felt like we would be close to the six seed and that鈥檚 the way it worked out. We were also thinking it would be between Freeport or Beaver for our opponent.鈥�
Carmichaels and West Greene drew first-round byes in Class A while Jefferson-Morgan plays No. 12 Leechburg in a 3 p.m. game Thursday at Gateway. The Mikes and Lady Pioneers play their first games in the quarterfinals on May 18 with the sites and times to be determined.
The Mikes were seeded behind defending champion Union.
鈥淚 kind of felt that鈥檚 what it was going to be,鈥� said Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs, whose team awaits the winner of a first-round game between No. 7 Sewickley Academy and No. 10 Monessen. 鈥淲e just played Monessen not that long ago and I鈥檓 watching a little bit of Sewickley Academy.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just kind of itching to get going. This is kind of a long layoff. We鈥檙e going to try to scrimmage a little bit. Once the time comes we鈥檒l be ready to go. We鈥檝e played well this year, really well in some spurts. I鈥檓 been pleased so far with what we鈥檝e been able to do.鈥�
West Greene will play the survivor between No. 6 South Side and No. 11 Beth-Center.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 really get into the rankings and stuff too much because you鈥檝e got to beat everybody to win it anyway,鈥� Lady Pioneers coach Bill Simms said of drawing the No. 3 seed. 鈥淲e knew we were in that mix somewhere. I thought we鈥檇 be anywhere from three through five so I guess getting the three was a little bit of an honor because you get a bye out of it. But now you鈥檙e off to the 18th.鈥�
Simms, like many playoff coaches with extended layoffs, intends to play at least once scrimmage.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a couple feelers out there right now,鈥� Simms said. 鈥淭he biggest thing is you want to keep your batter鈥檚 eye sharp. You want to see live pitching. You can hit in the cage all you want but that doesn鈥檛 compare to real game situations.鈥�
West Greene defeated Beth-Center twice during the regular season and beat South Side in a close playoff game last year.
鈥淚f it goes that way then that was the same matchup we had last year over at Pleasant Valley at Peters Township,鈥� Simms said. 鈥淎 girl hit a home run early in the game and we had to fight back and we won in extra innings.鈥�
As far as scouting goes, Simms likes to rely on more than just video.
鈥淢aybe you can make a call to one of your friends or someone in the coaching network to find out what they know about a team,鈥� Simms said. 鈥淚鈥檒l do what I can to try to do a scouting report on whoever it is but a lot of it boils down to if we play good or not. We tend to not worry about what other teams are doing as much as focus on what we do well.鈥�
West Greene has been relying on freshman pitcher Caitlin Whyte in the circle most of the season.
鈥淪he鈥檚 done well,鈥� Simms said. 鈥淲e knew she was going to be pretty good and she鈥檚 picked up the load. Sammi Zimmerman was right in the mix as well but she tweaked her shoulder so we鈥檝e been holding her out. Everybody might see her again at the end of the season, too, but we鈥檝e been kind of nursing that along.
鈥淐aitlin has been doing a fabulous job. She鈥檚 really taken the reins. Her changeup is getting better every game. We鈥檙e excited with the season she鈥檚 had as a freshman.鈥�
Wins by both Carmichaels and West Greene would set up a semifinal game between the two for the second year in a row. The Lady Mikes won last year.
鈥淲e played them and Jefferson three times last year and that shows you probably the strength of our section,鈥� Simms said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a long ways away. Hopefully we get there.鈥�
The third game between the Lady Rockets and Lady Pioneers in the 2025 postseason resulted in a walk-off win by West Greene in a consolation game that sent it into the PIAA tournament.
Jefferson-Morgan coach Rich Rush, whose team handed Carmichaels its lone section loss of the season, was satisfied with the Lady Rockets鈥� seeding.
鈥淲e were pleased with the five seed and felt deserving of our position,鈥� Rush said. 鈥淲e played a tough section schedule as well as non-section schedule that hopefully prepared us for a deep playoff run.鈥�
While most coaches worry about having a long layoff, Rush is pleased to have a break.
鈥淭he week off before the opening round game will be nice to heal some nagging injuries and refocus on the playoffs,鈥� Rush said.
Mount Pleasant, one of three section champions in Class 3A, was seeded third and received a first round bye. The Lady Vikings play either No. 6 Burrell or No. 11 Charleroi on May 18.